**5. Discussion**

Fig. 2 shows Yankee whaling activity based on tonnage (blue line), number of trips to the Caribbean Basin (red line), and the historical factors that contributed to the fluctuation in the intensity of Yankee whaling overall. The first noticeable aspect between Yankee whaling activities in general with that in the Caribbean Basin is the asynchrony between the two. While Yankee whaling intensity reached a peak between the U.S. industrial boom of the 1830s and the industrial exploitation of mineral oil in the early 1860s, the expansion of the Yankee whaling activity in the Caribbean Basin took place between the mid 1860's and the mid 1870s. Therefore we need to examine economic factors to understand this phenomenon.

**Figure 2.** Total activity of Yankee whaling by tonnage (blue line) and by number of trips to the Caribbean basin (red line). There is an asynchrony between the two suggesting that the Yankee whaling activity in the West Indies was a marginal operation that took place after the traditional whaling grounds had been depleted. Arrows represent historical events to give a context to better understand how political and economic factors influenced these activities in general.

First we need to recognize that Yankee whalers shifted both whaling grounds and species targets as resourses became scarcer in different geographic areas. Romero and Kannada (2006), using historical catch records, report that populations of bowhead (*Balaena mysticetus*) and right whales (*Eubalaena glacialis*) in the North Atlantic became severely depleted by the 19th century. This depletion caused Yankee whalers to seek new hunting grounds in the Caribbean. Yet that happened shortly after substitute products such as kerosene and mineral oil became available in the market making. As a consequence the demand for whale oil declined as soon as subsurface mineral oil was discovered at Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859 (Coleman 1995). Although there was again an increase in the price of whale oil during the American Civil War (1861-1865) due to increased demand, whale oil prices declined severely after that.

228 New Approaches to the Study of Marine Mammals

Yankee whalers visited the area of the Gulf of Paria, between Venezuela and Trinidad, between 1837 and 1871 but may also have visited other localities and at other times. They predominantly hunted humpbacks, but occasionally they would strike a sperm whale or a 'blackfish,' (*G*. *macrorhynchus*). Yankee whalers also visited other coastal areas in eastern Venezuela. Since data are incomplete, the only quantitative statement I can make, based on the summary provided by Reeves *et al.* (2001), is that Yankee whalers, captured at least 25 whales, during at least nine whaling voyages. There was very little, if any, interaction between the whaling crews and Venezuelans. Therefore, there is no evidence that they ever influenced any marine mammal exploitation practice in Venezuela. Further, the presence of Yankee whaling ships created some stir in the local press, because the locals saw this operation as a breach of

Fig. 2 shows Yankee whaling activity based on tonnage (blue line), number of trips to the Caribbean Basin (red line), and the historical factors that contributed to the fluctuation in the intensity of Yankee whaling overall. The first noticeable aspect between Yankee whaling activities in general with that in the Caribbean Basin is the asynchrony between the two. While Yankee whaling intensity reached a peak between the U.S. industrial boom of the 1830s and the industrial exploitation of mineral oil in the early 1860s, the expansion of the Yankee whaling activity in the Caribbean Basin took place between the mid 1860's and the mid 1870s. Therefore we need to examine economic factors to understand this phenomenon.

**Total Tonnage vs. West Indies Activity**

North Pacific Disaster

Economic Depression

Heyday W.I. Whaling

Civil War (1861-1865)

Gold Rush Mineral Oil

**Figure 2.** Total activity of Yankee whaling by tonnage (blue line) and by number of trips to the

1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900

how political and economic factors influenced these activities in general.

Caribbean basin (red line). There is an asynchrony between the two suggesting that the Yankee whaling activity in the West Indies was a marginal operation that took place after the traditional whaling grounds had been depleted. Arrows represent historical events to give a context to better understand

0

10

Steam Whalers

20

30

**Trips to the W.I.**

40

50

their national sovereignty (Romero et al 1997 and references therein).

**4.7. Venezuela** 

**5. Discussion** 

0

British-American War (1812-5)

Pacific Shore-Whaling

U.S. Industrial Boom

New Pacific, Arctic Whaling Grounds

40000

80000

1.2E5

**Total Tonnage of the American Whaling Fleet**

1.6E5

2E5

2.4E5

The Yankee whale oil industry responded by trying to lower their production costs that were becoming higher as their vessels had to navigate to more difficult grounds. To that end they tried to make their operations more efficient by improving whaling technology with the introduction of the exploding harpoon head in 1864 and by reducing labor costs by hiring more and more crews from countries in the Caribbean Basin, particularly Englishspeaking ones. By this time, whalers were earning one-third to one-half of what merchant seamen earned and one-fifth of a shore laborer (Coleman 1995).

Thus a combination of the depletion of whale stocks in the historical whaling grounds of the North Atlantic together with lower labor costs by hiring natives from the West Indies shifted Yankee whaling activities to the Caribbean basin (and later to Artic and Antarctic waters). As Brandt (1940, p. 54) put it "Slowly the crews had to be composed more and more of halfcastes from all parts of the West Indies and of Central and South America."

These circumstances increased interaction between Yankee whalers and West Indies locals, which led to both technology transfer to the countries they were recruiting crews and depletion of local populations of whales, particularly humpbacks. Yet, the cultural influence of Yankee whalers on that part of the world was uneven. The large number of voyages to Barbados and Bermuda may be due not only to the presence of whales in those waters, but also because (1) Barbados is the first island a ship traveling from the east Atlantic encounters when sailing with the aid of the trade winds and (2) Bermuda is the only island between the North American continent and other whaling grounds in the eastern Caribbean such and Cape Verde.

Yet, by the time Yankee whalers initiated a significant activity in the Caribbean Basin, two localities –both under British sovereignty at that time: Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago has already developed a local shore whaling industry: Bermuda in 1663 (Romero 2006) and Trinidad in the 1820's (Romero et al., 2002). This contradicts the generalization made by Caldwell & Caldwell (1971) that Yankee whalers directly influenced shore whaling in the Caribbean.

Yankee whaling activity in Trinidad and Tobago have been summarized elsewhere (Reeves *et al.*, 2001, Reeves and Smith, 2002). All available data indicate that there was never much interaction between Yankee and the already established shore whaling industry of Trinidad. Yankee whaling in the area did not start until the 1830s, when Trinidadian shore whaling was already in full swing. In fact, the owners of one of the whaling stations in Trinidad asked the Governor of the Island to refuse authorization for the American Schooner *Harmony*, of Nantucket, to whale in the Gulf of Paria, for fear of competition (de Verteuil, 1994). It is not known how the Governor decided in this matter. Still some Yankee whaling vessels continued occasionally visiting Trinidad's waters until at least 1867. There are records of Yankee whaling ships visiting Tobago waters during 1877, although it is unclear whether or not they actually captured any whales (Reeves and Smith, 2002).

Yankee Whaling in the Caribbean Basin: Its Impact in a Historical Context 231

and (2) higher costs of whaling which led to the search of lower labor costs by hiring crews in the West Indies, particularly given that wages for crews of merchant vessels and shore

The discovery and development of a replacement commodity (mineral oil) together with the increase risks of investment on the whaling activity due to longer and longer voyages would

The bulk of Yankee whaling in the Caribbean Basin was short-lived and out of sync with the heyday of Yankee whaling. It concentrated in the southeastern Caribbean most likely because of the abundance of humpback whales in that area. The cultural influence of Yankee whalers varied by location mostly determined on whether or not their arrival took place before the development of local shore whaling. Therefore, a combination of factors, including whale stocks, political events, and labor and other economic and social issues

Both Yankee whaling and local shore whaling led to the depletion of humpbacks in the Caribbean Basin as it has been quantified elsewhere (Swartz et al. 2003, Smith and Reeves 2003).

Acosta, J. de. 1590 (1940). Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias. Fondo de Cultura

Caldwell, D. K. and Caldwell, M. C. 1971. Porpoise fisheries in the southern Caribbean – present utilizations and future potentials. In *Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Session of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute,* Higman, J. B. (ed.), Rosenstiel School of Marine and

Clark, A. H. 1887. The whale-fishery. 1. History and present condition of the fishery. In *The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, Section V, Volume II, History and Methods of the Fisheries*, Goode, G. B (ed.), U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C.; 3-218. Coleman, J.L. 1995. The American whale oil industry: a look back to the future of the

Hegarty, R.B. 1959. Returns of whaling vessels sailing from American ports. New Bedford:

Kannada, S.D. 2006. Environmental history and current practices of marine mammal exploitation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, W.I. MS Thesis. Jonesboro, AR:

American petroleum industry? Natural Resources Research 4(3):273-288. de Verteuil, A. 1994. The Germans in Trinidad. Port-of-Spain: The Litho Press. Hawes, C.B. 1924. Whaling. New York: Doubleday, Page and Company.

ultimately signify the end of whale oil as a major commercial commodity.

influenced Yankee whaling activities in the Caribbean.

*College of Arts and Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville,* 

Brandt, K. 1940. Whale oil. An economic analysis. Stanford University.

Atmospheric Science: Coral Gables, FL; 195-206.

The Old Dartmouth Historical Society.

Arkansas State University.

industries were higher.

**Author details** 

Aldemaro Romero

**7. References** 

*Peck Hall, Edwardsville, IL, USA* 

Económica. México.

Yet, in other places such as SVG, the story was different. Despite the fact that the number of voyages by Yankee whalers these and other surrounding islands was relatively low in comparison to those to Bermuda and Barbados, their cultural influence in undeniable. For example, a SVG resident named William Wallace took interest in whaling and participated as a crewmember on several Yankee whaling expeditions. He later left Bequia and moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, the center of the Yankee whaling fleet. While in New Bedford, he learned whaleboat design, tool production and maintenance, and hunting methods. Upon returning to SVG, he applied this new knowledge and began whaling. Whaling represented an opportunity for economic development for men of European ancestry returning to an impoverished island. Thus, the development of the whaling industry in SVG was the result of cultural contacts rather than a direct correlation of intensity of Yankee whaling operations in those waters (Kannada 2006).

The reason why Yankee whalers did not intensively exploit whales in SVG had to do with yield per unit of effort. The efficiency with which Yankee whalers caught whales in SVG was less than ideal: 38.5 % success rate (killing and hauling in). This was probably due to the limitations of the boats, which were rowboats, and the inaccuracy of hand-thrown harpoons. It seems that landing a humpback whale was a difficult task. These same limitations may have played a role in Yankee whaler's choice not to hunt pilot whales unless times were desperate. In contrast to the large, slow moving, and obvious humpback whales; the shortfinned pilot whales are small and quick. Chasing after the smaller and faster pilot whales would have been extremely costly in terms of time and profit potential (Kannada 2006).

Prior to the 1986 International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling, SVG and the rest of the world for that matter, whaled without regard to depletion issues. Despite a negative correlation between global oil value and the number of humpback whales caught in SVG, it is unlikely that the global market drove the industry. SVG exported oil and meat of humpback whales to neighboring countries in only small quantities. It is more likely that the persistence of the humpback whale fishery in SVG was due to local tradition and local demand for whale products as there are no longer exports of these products outside the country. The SVG market followed the typical supply and demand curve in that as the amount of humpback whale oil became available, the less it cost which lead to a higher demand for the product. Since the late 1930's, there has been little fluctuation in the number of humpback whales killed and that number has remained low (no more than 4 killed in any one year) (Kannada 2006).
